australia

Back at Google I/O, we saw Assistant debut a bunch of new voice options, giving users a total of eight to choose between. That was a huge step forward in terms of variety, but Google isn't done there. Today we learn of the latest addition to Assistant's library of voice models, with a new British and Australian option arriving for US users.

Google is always keen to encourage more people to use its contactless payment service, which often means enticing promotions for us to make the most of. The latest such opportunity in the UK offers up to £50 in Google Play credit or the chance to win a Google Home Mini.

So many times we hear readers complain about Google's focus being way too US-centered. Sure, the company started here and has a significant user base, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating when new products and services debut, only to be US exclusives. While that favoritism isn't going to vanish any time soon, little by little we see Google expand its offerings in nations abroad, and today we're checking in with the latest developments in the international world of Google Pay.

Little by little, Google's recruiting the world's financial institutions to support its Google Pay ecosystem. At least, we regularly see dozens upon dozens of US banks line up to work with Google Pay, but sometimes international compatibility is harder to come by. Earlier this month we spotted a few such additions, with new Pay banks popping up in Poland, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Australia, and now we've got a bunch more to share, with even more Australian banks joining the gang, as well as new options landing for Japan.

Google Assistant's routines rolled out in March, then gained customization and scheduling a few months later, but in the time since, routines have always been an English (US) feature. If your Google Home or Assistant on your phone was set to any other language, or any other variant of English, you had to make do with the old My Day feature for a morning routine and not much more. In the past day, however, routines have started popping up left and right for users in several countries.

Google One's launch has been fraught with delays and pseudo-announcements. The unifying storage service was introduced in May, but only select users got invited to try it out, then Google re-announced it again a few weeks ago, saying it was available to everyone in the US. But we all know that just meant it was starting to be available to all. Now comes the news that One is finally stepping outside the borders of the USA and going south to Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, then sailing across the Pacific to Australia.

Google Home Max, the biggest, loudest speaker you can get from Google, launched late last year. The good ol' U-S-of-A remained the only place you could get one until this May, when it became available in Canada. This month, the Max will be available in a third country (and a second continent!): it goes on sale in Australia on August 9.

Google recently rebranded Android Pay to Google Pay, and it's now running a promotion to increase use of the service. From now until May 14th, you can get a $10 Google Play credit if you make five purchases via Google Pay, with just a few caveats.

Your Google Assistant settings have had a "Payments" section for quite some time where you can set up a payment method and address. This is used for both making purchases through Google Express merchants as well as sending payments to other users. However, both options are only available to users in the US. So if you tried to add a new payment method outside the US, you wouldn't be able to complete the setup. But that seems to have changed.

Google Pay is slowly making its way to more countries around the world, but what's even more important than coming to a country is being supported by the different popular banks in each one. Your bank is one of the few things in life you're not likely to change or choose based on the technological whims of the moment, so all anyone can do is sit and wait (and pester the bank with a few emails) until support is added for Google Pay.

Now customers of the National Australia Bank (NAB) can stop bemoaning their luck as they can finally sign up to Google Pay with their cards and start paying via their phones at all NFC-equipped points of sale.